Date:
1/15/2002
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Wendel Sloan
A scientific research award totaling over $900,000 has been awarded to four research professors at Eastern New Mexico University. The grant, awarded from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) in Bethesda, Md., is part of the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network collaboration with other academic institutions and industries throughout the state.
The following ENMU biomedical research projects were funded by the new grant: Dr. Newton Hilliard Jr, assistant professor of chemistry, received research funds to study microbial sulfur metabolism in bacteria from extreme environments. Dr. Zhiming Liu, assistant professor of biology, received the award for the study of the molecular mechanisms of egg development in animals. Dr. Manuel Varela, assistant professor of biology, received funding for the study of bacterial sugar transport physiology. Dr. Nicholas Wright, assistant professor of biology, was awarded funding to study odor perception, learning and memory in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster).
The purpose of the grant is to provide networking infrastructure to facilitate research and student training collaborations between universities, national labs and industrial partners in the state of New Mexico. In addition, the grant establishes a student pipeline for students at the regional schools to move to the Ph.D.-granting institutions in the state. The research award provides for the establishment of a scientific equipment core facility, a bioinformatics core facility and individual scientific research projects by the ENMU professors.